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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. can — to be able to
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. track — to keep track
  5. capital — money
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. root — of a plant
  9. clip — a video
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bass — low music
  12. present — there
  13. root — the cause
  14. root — of a word
  15. can — a tin
  16. track — a song
  17. bass — the fish
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. track — a path
  20. present — the time now
  21. clip — for paper
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. can — a tin
  24. present — a gift

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com